Some of the Most Amazing Festivals in Nepal

If you are planning to go to Nepal, for instance through a trip organized by Insight Tours and Vacations, then you should really take the opportunity to book your trip during one of the country’s amazing festivals. Festivals happen very regularly, so you have a lot of choices available to you. Let’s take a look at some of them.

January’s Magh Sankranti, Devghat

This festival happens in Devghat. The exact date depends on the norther movement of the winter sun, making it one of the only ones that isn’t dated by the lunar calendar. This festival celebrates ritual bathing to end the cold time period of the winter months.

February’s Losar

Losar is the Tibetan New Year, starting on the first February moon. It is celebrated all over Nepal and Tibet, with the greatest celebration being near Patan in the Bodhnarth stupa.

February and March’s Maha Shivaratri, Pashupatinath

This festival celebrates the birthday of the Shiva, which is in the first moon of Falgun, the Nepali month. As such, it can happen either in February or March. All Shiva temples celebrate this, but the most impressive one is at Pashupatinath, where you will be able to see hundreds of sadhus. Late in the day, the Nepalese king will also make an appearance. Crowds bathe in the holy waters of Bagmati, which is a beautiful and colorful sight.

April’s Balkumari Jatra, Thimi

Thimi is a very small town and the celebrate the New Year according to King Jagat Jyoti Malla’s ruling, which was at the start of the 17th century. At dusk, devotees gather around the temple of Balkumari and light hundreds of oil lamps, creating an impressive site. All night long, some devotees will lie motionless around the temple, balancing oil lamps on their body. In the morning. Ganesh arrives from Nagadesh, another village, and the festival will erupt with devotees hurling red powder over everybody.

April’s Bisket Jatra, Bhaktapur

This is a chariot festival and is truly exciting and not to be missed. Roofed chariots will ride through the town in a tug of war game. This is actually a festival of fertility and when the battle is over, a huge phallic symbol, the lingam, will be built inside the yoni base, which is a symbol for female genitals.

April and May’s Rato Machhendranath Festival, Patan

This festival honors Machhendranath, a deity who has powers over rain. Essentially, the god is asked to provide good rains during the monsoon season. Throughout Kathmandu, a chariot procession can be seen all day long.

August and September’s Indra Jatra, Kathmandu

This is another chariot festival that celebrates the capture of Indra, the goddess of rain of Aryans. On her release, she promised to take the deceased to heaven with her and to spread dew drops on the crops. This festival is truly unique and honors all those who have died during the past year.

These are just some of the amazing festivals in Nepal that will help you build lasting memories of an amazing trip.